'Outnumbered by puppets': Depopulated village in Japan crafts dolls for sense of life

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With most of the population gone, residents of one village in Japan have come up with a novel plan to make it less lonely — replacing people with puppets.

Fewer than 60 people live in Ichinono, and most of them are past retirement age as younger people have moved away for jobs or education.

So, using old clothes, fabrics and mannequins, residents have stitched together their own population of puppets to keep them company.

Some of puppets ride swings, others push firewood carts, smiling eerily at visitors.

“We’re probably outnumbered by puppets,” Hisayo Yamazaki, an 88-year-old widow, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

Hisayo Yamazaki standing next to the puppets outside her house in Ichinono. Philip Fong / AFP - Getty Images

Most families in Ichinono used to have children, Yamazaki said, but the kids were encouraged to go somewhere else. “We’re now paying the price,” she added.

Japan has the highest percentage of people ages 65 and over in the world, according to data released last month by the country’s statistics bureau ahead of its “Respect for the Aged Day.”

While the total population is decreasing, the data showed that the population age 65 and over is at a record high of 36.25 million, accounting for 29.3% of the total population.

Separate data from Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry, shows the country’s total population declined for the 15th consecutive year in 2023, with a record low of 730,000 newborns but an all-time high of 1.58 million deaths.